Honorable Discharge
Strong, yet fragile, Michael Aschenbrenner’s glass sculptures are vivid period pieces

By Steven Biller

The role of the artist in times of war, historian Howard Zinn wrote, “is to transcend conventional wisdom, to transcend the word of the establishment, to transcend the orthodoxy, to go beyond and escape what is handed down by the government or what is said in the media.”

Even Picasso said, “Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.”

None of this crossed Michael Aschenbrenner’s mind as he lay in a San Francisco orthopedic ward for 11 months, recuperating from a second surgery to his knee.  A paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division on a reconnaissance mission in Vietnam, he fell down a mountain and tangled and twisted the knee in some vines.  He walked on it for two days before being airlifted to Japan for the first surgery, and then to the United States.

Aschenbrenner knows war is hell.  And so is making Damaged Bones, the series he started (and stopped and revisited) seven years after returning from Vietnam.  Ten years had passed before he confronted the source of his subject.  “I saw a lot of people die,” he says.  He also saw a lot of amputees. “It was haunting me in dreams.”

The glass sculptor’s process is a metaphor for his war experience.  Rather than blowing or casting the glass, he expresses himself physically and emotionally by stretching and pulling it.  “Pulling makes for pieces that are substantial,” Aschenbrenner says of the grueling technique.  “They’re solid and heavy.”

Working from a puddle of molten glass, he must work fast and make quick decisions, which now seem intuitive.  “Making art depends upon noticing things — things about yourself, your methods, your subject matter.  [In my process] there’s a fluid movement, like a dance — through the hands, the tools, and into the piece.  I learned how to control the material.  I learned that I was doing this dance.”

And, like all good abstract artists, he learned when to stop, which bespeaks his integrity:  If Aschenbrenner deems a piece overdone, underdone, or generally displeasing, the work never leaves his studio.

Each expressionist limb is bandaged with cheesecloth, surfaced with wax, which he sometimes colors with powder.  He also affixes splints with “field-expedient” twine and rope.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art included a powerful, 25-piece Damaged Bones installation appeared in the 2006 exhibition Glass: Material Matters, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a 36-piece composition in its permanent collection.

Aschenbrenner’s other series represented at Edenhurst Gallery include Portraits and Sighting Devices. “I was a forward observer [in the military],” he explains. “We used our eyes and ears to locate where shots were coming from.”  He also created hollow, blown and stretched Flotation Devices and biographical Portraits.  “Sadly, they’re all appropriate [images] today,” he deadpans.

Steven Biller is editor-in-chief and art writer of Palm Springs Life, Palm Desert Magazine, and Pebble Beach: The Magazine.
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Education and Awards:
1996 Pollock/Krasner Foundation Grant. New York.
1992 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Grant.
1991 Artists in Residence. Creative Glass Center of America, Wheaton Village.
1989 Artist in Residence. New York Experimental Glass Workshop.
Pollock/Krasner Foundation Grant. New York.
1995 M.F.A. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Mn.
1975 B.A. California State University, San Bernardino.

Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2000 Huntington Beach Art Center. “Selected Survey”. California.
1997 The Marta Hewett Gallery. Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Cutress Gallery. The Arts Colony. Pomona, California.
1995 Fredrick R. Weisman Museum. Pepperdine University.
Marta Hewett Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Whatcom Museum of Art. Bellingham, Washington.
1993 Marta Hewett Gallery. Cincinnati, Ohio.
1992 Karen Garland Gallery. Santa Fe, New Mexico.
1991 Franklin Parrasch Gallery. New York NY.
Marta Hewett Gallery . Cincinnati. Ohio.
1988 Anne O’ Brien Gallery. Washington, DC.
1987 New York Experimental Glass Workshop. New York, NY.
1981 Michael Bennett Gallery. New York , NY.
Sharon Creative Arts Foundation. Sharon , Ct .
1978 Coffman Gallery. University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, MN.

Selected Group Exhibitions:
1999 Parkland College Art Gallery. Champaign Ill. Curated by Ed Francis.
"The Quality of Glass: Heat and Light". Museum of Art and History.
The McPherson Center. Santa Cruz, California.
1997 “View points: Political, Social, and Personal”. Society of Arts and Crafts. Boston.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, NY.
1996 DA Gallery. “Acquisitions”. Arts Colony. Pomona, California.
“Glass: The Cutting Edge”. Clark Gallery. Lincoln, Mass.
1994 “Art of Glass”. Union Gallery. San Jose State University.
1993 “Transcending Boundaries”. Elsa Mott Gallery. NY.
“Installation”. American Crafts Museum. New York, NY.
1992 “Invitational”. Robert Kidd Gallery. Birmingham, Michigan.
“Innovative Form and Expression”. NJ Center of Visual Arts.
“Art in the Park”. Thompkins Square Park. New York, NY.
Miller Gallery. Summer Exhibit. New York, NY.
1991 “World Glass Now 1991” Hokkaido Museum. Japan.
“Constructions of Meaning”. Illinois State University.
“Summer Group Exhibition” Rosa Esman Gallery. New York, NY.
“As Seen by Both Sides”. Boston University Art Gallery.Travels throughout: United States and Vietnam.
“Le Verre”. International Exhibit of Contemporary Glass. Conseil Regional de Haute-Normandie. Rouen, France.

1990 “Independent Curators Inc”. Bess Cutler Gallery. New York, NY.
“Bones”. Brody Gallery. Washington D.C.
“Benefit for NEST Foundation. Leo Castelli Gallery. New York, NY.
“Bridging the Gap”. Franklin Parrasch Gallery. New York, NY.
“Invitational”. Robert Kidd Gallery. Michigan.
“A Different War”. Curated by Lucy Lippard. Travels to: Whatcom Museum. DeCordova Museum. Arkon Art Museum.
Wight Art Gallery. UCLA.
“Artistas por la Paz”. PAND International. Madrid, Spain.
“Holiday Benefit”. New York Experimental Glass.
1988 Forum Gallery. Minneapolis, MN.
1987 “The Eloquent Object: The Evolution of Am. Art in Craft Media since 1945”.
The Philbrook Museum on Art. Tulsa, Ok. Traveled thru U.S. and Japan.
Robert Kidd Gallery. Birmingham, Michigan.
National Museum of Dance. Saratiga Springs, NY.
Arts Signature Gallery. Tulsa, Ok.
“Glass: Another View”. University of Hawaii.

1986 “Reflexes and “Reflections”. Vietnam Vet Art Group.
Columbia Museum of Art. Columbus, SC.
University of Southern Maine. Farmington, Mass.
Islip Art Museum. East Islip, NY.
“Transpartent Motives”. Contemporary Art Center. Cincinnati, Ohio.
Robert Kidd Gallery. Michigan.
1985 “Tracers”. Joseph Papp Public Theatre. New York.
Traver-Sutton Gallery. Seattle, Washington.
“New American Glass: Focus 2” Huntington Museum of Art. W.VA.
Kraine Club Gallery. New York, NY.
Robert Kidd Gallery. Michigan.
1984 New York Experimental Glass Workshop. NY.
“Buddies”. New York State Vet Memorial Exhibit.
Silvermine Art Center. New Cannan, Ct.
Cash Gallery. New York, NY.
“Glass of ‘83”. Wabash College Gallery of Art. In.
1983 “Vietnam Memorial Exhibition”. Albany, NY.
“Sculptural Glass”. Tucson Museum of Art. Az.
1982 Silvermine Art Center. New Cannan, Ct.
“The Thirteen Collection”. Channel 13 Art Auction, NY. NY.
“Contemporary American Glass”. Young Gallery. San Jose, Ca.
1981 DeCordova Museum of Art. Lincoln, Mass.
East Carolina University. Greenville, NC.
1980 Corning Museum of Glass. New York.
New York Experimental Glass Workshop.
1979 Forecast Gallery. Minneapolis, MN.
"Contemporary Glass". American Crafts Council. NYC.
1978 "Artist's Choice". Clayworks Studio Workshop. NYC.
University of Wisconsin. River Falls, Wisconsin.
1977 Tweed Museum. Duluth, Michigan.
Minnesota Museum of Art. St. Paul, MN.

Publications:
2000 Gilbert, Rick. “Selected Survey: Michael Aschenbrenner”. Artweek, June.
1998 Goff, Robert. "Terrible Beauty". Forbes Magazine Oct.19,1998.
1995 Leddy, Pat. "Michael Aschenbrenner" at Weisman Museum/Pepperdine Uni. Artweek December 1995.
1993 Cotter, Holland. "Glass Sculptors Whose Work Transcends Crafts". New York Times. June 18,1993.
Dodds, Jane. "Glass Installations". Glass Magazine. June 1993.
Louie, Elaine. "Glass that Flickers and Plays Tricks". New York Times. April 15, 1993.
Gluck, Grace. " Glassy-eyed at the American Crafts Museum". The New York Observer. June 14, 1993.
Out of State. The Star Ledger. May 21, 1993.
Agenda: What's on in. Elle Decor. June/July 1993
Art Scene. Midtown Resident. NYC. April 30, 1993.
Spectrum. Neues Glas Feb. 1993.
1992 Freundenheim, Betty. "New Reflections Abound in Glass Art. The New York Times. Sunday March 15, 1992
Tarchinski, Pamala J. "Artists Chisel Contemporary Life With Glass". Journal North. March 12, 1992.
1991 Wilson, William. "Vietnam Revisited". The Los Angeles Times. Mar. 27
Tarlow, Lois. "As Seen By Both Sides". Indochina Arts Project, Inc. Boston, Mass. catalog 1991.
Italiano, Laura. "Shattering the Mold". Atlantic City Magazine.
Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art. "World Glass Now 1991".
McGovern, Adam. Cover Magazine. Art review. page 10. May 1991.
Spooner, Peter F. "Construction of Meaning". catalog. University Gallery. Illinois State Production Press, Inc. Jacksonville, Ill.
1990 Lippard, Lucy. "A Different War: Vietnam in Art" catalog. Whatcom Museum of Art. Real Comet Press. Seattle, Washington.
Perreault, John. "Michael Aschenbrenner: Glass Plus" Glass Magazine Vol. 40 cover photo. page 28-33.
Hess, Elizabeth. "Apocalypse Now and Then". The Village Voice. vol. xxxv. No. 15. April 10, 1990. page 95.
Lippard, Lucy. "A Different War: Vietnam in Art". Contemporanea. No.22 Nov. 1990 p.95
Shinn, Dorothy. "Art Helps in Healing the Wounds of Vietnam". Akron Beacon Journal September 8, 1990.
Polsky, Richard. Interview. Oral History Archives. Columbia University. NY.
Stapen, Nancy. "Visions of Vietnam". The Boston Herald. Feb. 23.
Chaddock, Gail Russell. "Art From a War". The Christian Science Monitor. page 10-11.
1989 Plagens, Peter. "A Painful War's Haunted Art". Newsweek Sept. 11 p. 54.
Glowen, Ron. "A Different War: Battlegrounds in the Mind". Artweek September 9, 1989. vol. 20 No 29.
1989 Harris, John. "Broken Bones of War Heal in His Art". The Bellingham Herald. August 31, 1989.
1988 Treskow, Ivan. "Glass: Another View" catalog. Tongg Publishing Co. 1988.
1987 Diran-Khewhok, Carol. "Glass Another View."
1986 Chambers, Karen. "Transparent Motives: Glass on a Large Scale" catalog essay. Berman Printing Co. Contemporary Art Center. Cincinnati, Ohio.
Findsen, Owen. Cincinnati Enquirer. January.
1985 Artspeak. 1984.
1984 Levin, Kim. "Choices". Village Voice June 12, 1984.
Hollister, Paul. Neues Glas. April 1984.
1983 Frantz, Suzanne. "Sculptural Glass". Tucson Museum of Art.
1982 Raynor, Vivien. The New York Times. Connecticut. May 25, 1982.
Jinishijan, Russell. Fair Press. Connecticut ed. May 9, 1982.
Milman, E. The Sunday Post. Connecticut. May 19, 1982.
NCECA catalog. San Jose State University. California.
"Contemporary Glass Review". Corning Museum. NY.
1981Wallach, Amei. "A War-Born Rage for Shocking". Newsday. Nov 8.
"New Work". New York Experimental Glass Workshop.
Annual Report. catalog photo. Corning Museum. NY.
1979 Hegman, William. Minneapolis Tribune. Feb. 25, 1979.
1978 Hare, Sharon. Crafts Horizons. Summer edition.

Media:
1991 Davis, Tony D. "A New Voice" WCIN radio interview. Jan. 6, 1991.
1989 Walker, Karla. "A Different War". WKSU National Public Radio interview. September 17, 1990. Kent, Ohio.

Permanent Collections:
Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, NY.
Corning Museum of Glass. Corning, NY.
Honolulu Academy of the Arts. Honolulu, Hawaii.
American Crafts Museum. New York, NY.
Museum of American Glass. Millville, NJ.
Vietnam Veterans Arts Museum. Chicago, Ill.
Fredrick R. Weisman Museum. Pepperdine University, California.

Source:
Edenhurst Gallery